Overview and history

Telephone numbers in Ireland are similar in format to those in many European open numbering plans, for example the UK or Germany with only the subscriber's number being required for local dialling. However, it is also possible to dial local calls with the full area code without any difference in charge. The trunk prefix is '0' followed by an area code, the first digit of which indicates the geographical area. Calls made from mobile phones, however, always require the full area code and phone number.

General structure of Irish numbering

Irish area codes vary in length, between one and three digits (excluding the leading 0), and subscribers' numbers are between five and seven digits. A migration to a standard format, (0xx) xxx xxxx, is in progress however, to avoid disruption, this process is only being carried out as needed where existing area codes and local numbering systems have reached full capacity.

Overview

Geographically assigned

Irish geographical area structured on a regional basis and follow a logical hierarchy of regions and sub-regions. These area codes approximately correspond to the following geographical regions : 01 - Greater Dublin, 02 - South (Cork), 04 (North East), 05 (South East) 06 (Midwest/Southwest), 07 (Northwest), 09 (West). The midlands area is covered by several regional codes.

NB: Codes do not necessarily match county or provincial boundaries as they evolved to suit technical requirements of the network as it evolved over the decades.

Except for the 01 area, all others are further subdivided into smaller areas. Normally, the main city or town in the area is 0X1. (Cork 021, Limerick 061, Galway 091 etc.)

Regional overview

01 — Dublin area – also extends to certain parts of Wicklow, Meath and Kildare.

021–029 — Most of County Cork; Cork City, Bantry, Bandon, Fermoy etc.

0402, 0404, 041–047 and 049 — North East, Midlands and parts of Wicklow.

048 — Northern Ireland landline access (may also be dialled as an international call to the UK using 00 44 28).

Mobile services

Mobile phones use the prefixes 083, 085, 086, 087 and 089. 088 was previously issued to the Eircell analogue service. This has subsequently been issued to Digiweb. Irish mobile telephone numbering is part of a closed numbering plan. This means that you must dial a full 10-digit number. Local dialling without an area code is not possible from a mobile phone. Numbers are fully portable between networks, meaning that you cannot reliably identify a network based on its prefix. However, newly issued numbers are currently allocated on 083 for 3, 085 for Meteor and eMobile, 087 for Vodafone and 089 for Tesco, Lycamobile, 48 and future MVNOs. With the rebranding of O2 retail stores to 3 in early 2015, new customers are issued with numbers under the 083 prefix.

089 9 – Lycamobile (MVNO) on O2.(issued in the absence of a previously held number)

Note: Mobile number portability has been in operation since 2003. While a new connection to any network will take the prefix above, there is no guarantee that a number with one of those prefixes has remained on that network. In addition, a given network is not guaranteed to receive all of their prefix block. The numbers in each prefix are allocated in blocks of several thousand to the networks, as they require them, thus ComReg could in theory, allocate 083 numbers to Vodafone.

Direct to mobile voicemail

Every Irish mobile number has a corresponding voicemail box number. This is formed by prefixing the last 7-digits of the mobile number with the digit 5 E.g. to call the voicemail box associated with mobile number 085 XXX XXXX you would dial 085 5 XXX XXXX

Calls to Northern Ireland

Although Northern Ireland is part of the UK (+44) numbering plan, a special arrangement exists for calling Northern Ireland landlines from the Republic of Ireland. Calls to Northern Ireland can be dialled using the 048 prefix or by dialling the number in the full international format. Most Irish operators treat calls to Northern Ireland at national or even local rates. Similar charging arrangements apply when calling the Republic of Ireland from Northern Ireland.

The operator will have access to your caller ID and possibly location. However, you should be prepared to give as much information about your location (such as street names and landmarks) as possible to ensure accuracy.

Deaf or hard of hearing customers can send an SMS message to 112. To use the service, you must first register by sending a message containing the word "REGISTER" to 112. In an emergency send a text as follows:Which? Say which Emergency Service is needed: Ambulance, Coast guard, Fire brigade, or Police (Garda Síochána)What? Say what the problem is.County? Say which county you are sending the text from.Where? Say where is the assistance needed. Give the name of the town and road if possible.
Include any extra information possible: House number or nearby landmarks, road junctions or main roads.

Be as clear as possible when saying where the help is needed. The emergency services will be able to send help to you quicker when they know where help is needed. If you do not receive a response within 3 minutes, send another SMS.[8]

Special rate numbers

15xx — Premium Rate (charge per min is as advertised)

1800 — Freephone (no charge)

00 800 - International Freephone (may also presented as +800) (no charge from Eircom landline, other networks or from mobiles may charge)

1850 — Single charge per call (varies depending on operator)

1890 — Call equivalent to a 'local call*'

0818 - National rate*

076 - VoIP rates**

NB: *it is no longer possible to define what 'local rate' or 'national rate' are due to the wide variety of call plans and operators available. Also, the majority of operators exclude non-geographic numbers from call bundles. This can mean that calls to these numbers are billed separately to inclusive minutes which can lead to high charges. **VoIP 076 may be charged differently from geographic numbers by some operators.

Internet access numbers

1891 — Reduced cost Internet Access (possibly timed)

1892 — Local rate Internet Access (timed)

1893 — Variable Cost Internet Access (timed)

Carrier selection (per call)

13 xxx — Carrier selection (Third party long distance, international and internet services). These codes override the default carrier.

Carrier preselect is normally used where the exchange automatically uses the customer's preferred provider(s).

Voicemail

These codes are used to control various supplementary services offered by digital local exchanges. These services were first introduced as 'PhonePlus' in 1979 on the first generation of Alcatel E10 and Ericsson AXE digital exchanges used in Ireland and were rolled out nationally throughout the 1980s. These services are available on all Irish PSTN lines, regardless of operator. There is a more expansive range of services available, but these are the most commonly used. Different codes apply on cable telephony lines, such as those provided by UPC Ireland and on VoIP providers.

PSTN Lines and some ISDN services

Caller ID Services

141 — Caller ID default override – Withhold Caller ID on this call.

142 — Caller ID default override – Present Caller ID on this call.

1471 — Check last missed call. The system will verbally announce details of the last missed call.

Call waiting

Answering call waiting

R2 - Answer waiting call and place current call on hold / or swap between calls.

Anonymous call rejection

*90 — Activate Anonymous Call Rejection

#90 — Deactivate Anonymous Call Rejection

Redial last number called

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You will either hear a tone or a voice message to confirm services have been set up or deactivated.

Mobiles

GSM Supplementary Service Codes — all of Ireland's mobile providers use the standard GSM codes to control special services such as call forwarding, barring, call waiting etc.

Number changes

Several major number changes have occurred since 2000.

2002–2003

The majority of Area codes in County Donegal were combined into a single area code (074) with 7-digit local numbering. While other parts of South Donegal were combined into the (071) area code (e.g. Bundoran, Rossnowlagh) [9] The area abolished changed were 073, 075 and 077. All local numbers became 7-digit.

Area codes in Sligo and North Leitrim were merged into the single area code 071 with 7-digit local numbering. The area codes abolished were 072, 078 and 079. All local numbers became 7-digit.

Area codes in parts of Galway and Mayo were merged into a single 094 area including Castlebar, Swinford, Claremorris, Ballaghadereen, Castlerae and Ballinrobe The area codes abolished were 0907 and 092. All local numbers became 7-digit.

A new area code 090 replaced four codes in the West Midlands including Athlone, Banagher North, Ballinasloe, Roscommon and Portumna. The area codes abolished were 0902, 0903, 0905 and 0509 All local numbers became 7-digit.

Area codes in the East Midlands were merged into the single 046 area code including Navan, Nobber, Kells, Trim, Enfield and Edenderry. The area 0405 area code was abolished. All local numbers became 7-digit.

In 2006–2007

Local numbering changed from 5-digit to 7-digit local in the following area (without area code change). 044 Mullingar numbers were prefixed by 93 and Tyrrellspass numbers were prefixed by 92 and Costlepollard numbers were prefixed by 96.

Numbers in Portlaoise, Birr and Tullamore were merged into a new 057 area code. The area codes abolished were 0502, 0506 and 0509'. All local numbers became 7-digit.

Area codes in the southeast were merged into the single 053 area code including Wexford, Enniscorthy and Gorey. The area codes abolished were 054, 055. All local numbers became 7-digit.

In 2009–2010

Local numbering changed from 5-digit to 7-digit local in the following areas (without area code change). 023 Bandon numbers beginning with 2,3,4,5,7 and 8 were prefixed by 88 while numbers beginning with 6 were prefixed by 66. '043 Longford numbers were prefixed by 33 and Granard numbers were prefixed by 66. 052 Clonmel numbers were prefixed by 61, Cahir numbers were prefixed by 74 and Killenaule numbers were prefixed by 91. 064 Killarney numbers were prefixed by 66 and Rathmore numbers were prefixed by 77.

Older changes

Dublin 01 was changed to 7-digit number in 1994.
Mobile numbering became 7-digit in the mid-1990s
Cork 021 was changed to 7-digit numbers in 1998-1999.
The 066 area code including Tralee and Dingle was moved to 7-digit numbering in 2000.
The 080 prefix was previously used for calls to Northern Ireland, but following the UK's renumbering of Northern Ireland in 2000, this changed to 048.

Historical codes to access Northern Ireland

Previously Belfast could be reached by dialling 084 in place of the UK area code 0232

Historical codes to access British numbers

Until the early 1990s, the 03 numbering range was originally used for calls to Great Britain, with the Irish prefix 030 replacing the UK trunk code 0. Calls to British cities using the Director telephone system were also possible using shorter codes: